GCSE resits success under Darlington College's pilot scheme

COLLEGE students have made the grade after piloting a fresh approach to re-sitting exams.

Students at Darlington College were celebrating after securing their GCSE mathematics and English qualifications after re-taking the subjects seven months early.

Senior lecturer in English Gemma Chapman said: “All 16 to 19-year-olds without at least a grade 4 in GCSE maths or English are required to enrol on GCSE courses alongside their main programme of study.

“We then did an analysis to see how each student had approached the subject and where they required extra help to enable us to target bespoke learning sessions in a series of dedicated re-sit classes.”

All college re-sit students were offered an additional three hours a week tuition to study maths and English, with daily drop-in sessions and October half-term revision classes, before re-taking their exams early.

Bricklaying student Kieran Hardy, 17, of Darlington, secured grade 4 passes in both maths and English and said: “It was a lot of effort, but I’m really happy with my results and can now concentrate on my coursework and my ambitions of working towards becoming a self-employed builder in the future.”

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